Beverage-can closure

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to an improved closure member for use with an easy-opening receptacle normally of the metallic type having an opening formed in one end thereof. The closure member is of the type which can be removably attached to a receptacle lid and is provided with an interior seal member which contacts and seals on the inside of the receptacle lid. The closure is provided with an extension which when depressed allows dispensing of the liquid from the receptacle as desired.

United States Patent [191 Walker 1 Apr. 23, 1974 BEVERAGE-CAN CLOSURE Primary Examiner-George T. Hall [76] Inventor: Carl Ray Walker, 5912 Sandhurst Attorney Agent FirmRlchard5v Harris &

Apt. 236, Dallas, Tex. 75206 Medlock [22] Filed: July 17, 1972 57 ABSTRACT [2|] Appl. No.: 272,195 1 This disclosure relates to an improved closure member for use with an easy-opening receptacle normally of [2%] $5.8]. the metallic type having n opening formed in one end l 47 55 7 57 thereof. The closure member is of the type which can 1 le 0 l be removably attached to a receptacle lid and is pro- 56 R f d vided with an interior seal member which contacts and 1 e erences seals on the inside of the receptacle lid. The closure is UNITED STATES PATENTS provided with an extension which when depressed al- 3,637,104 l/l972 Dutnell 220/25 lows dispensing of the liquid from the receptacle as desired.

2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures BEVERAGE-CAN CLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in closure members and more specifically to a closure member for use in sealing an easy-open metallic-type receptacle such as a drink can or the like wherein the closure member allows for dispensing of the liquid from the receptacle without removing the seal therefrom.

In the sale and distribution of beverages, it has been a general practice to employ metallic receptacles which have easy-open lids. These lids are normallyof the type which can be removed by applying a pressure to a ring or tab attached thereto and are commonly called poptop or pop-tab" receptacle lids. Although receptacles with these easy-open lids are quite convenient for dispensing and transporting liquid, they have not proved entirely satisfactory in all conditions of service for the reason that once the receptacle is open there is no convenient means for resealing the receptacle to protect the liquid remaining in the receptacle.

The general purpose of this invention is the provision of an improved closure member for metal receptacles having quick-opening tops which embraces all the advantages of similarly employed closure members yet can easily seal on a variety of sizes and shapes of openings. To attain this, the present invention contemplates the use of a unique sealing arrangement wherein the seal is located on the interior of the container and is held in place by two spring arms and by positive pressure present within the receptacle itself. In addition, this closure is provided with means for allowing the dispensing of liquids from the container without removing the closure from the receptacle itself.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is the provision of an improved closure member for a receptacle having a quick-open lid.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved closure member for a receptacle which seals on the interior of the container lid.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved closure member for a receptacle which fits a variety of sizes and shapes of openings.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved receptacle closure member which allows for dispensing of liquids from the container without removing the closure member from the receptacle.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved closure member for receptacles which is reusable.

Still a further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved closure member for receptacles which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and use.

With these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter more fully appear, and which will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention showing the closure member mounted on and sealing a metal receptacle;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a section of the device taken on line 33 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 illustrates a section of the device taken on line 44 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of a receptacle showing the first step in the insertion process for the closure member;

FIG. 6 illustrates a plan view similar to FIG. 1 showing the closure member partially installed on the receptacle;

FIG. 7 illustrates an enlarged section of the device taken on line 7-7 in FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8 illustrates an enlarged section of the device taken on line 88 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged section of the device taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a section of the device showing the interior of the receptacle with the closure member in the dispensing position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in the FIG- URES a closure member 10 which is mounted on and sealing a receptacle 12. For purposes of description of Q the present invention, the receptacle 12 is shown as having cylindrical side wall 14 with a circular top wall 16 and a circular bottom wall (not shown). In the present application, the receptacle 12 is shown as being formed with the top and bottom walls attached to the cylindrical side walls and it is to be understood of course that other shapes and types of receptacles could be used such as those which are extruded from a single piece. It is only important that the receptacle have a top wall which is provided with an opening 20 formed by a top which is not resealable once opened. Openings of this nature are generally found in receptacles having what is commonly known as pop-tops or pop-tabs which can be removed therefrom without the necessity of an opener or the like. These types of receptacles are currently commercially available on the market and are well-known in the art.

The closure member 10 is designed with a portion which extends through the opening 20 into the interior of the receptacle and a portion which remains on the exterior to hold the closure member in place. These two portions are joined together by a central member 22 which extends down through the opening of the container and supports a seal assembly 24 which 'seals against the interior of the top wall 16. The central member 22 also extends to the exterior of the receptacle 12 to which is attached a spring and handle assembly 26. The central member 22 is attached to the seal assembly 24 in such a position that when the closure member is installed as shown in FIG. 3, the central member 22 will be located near the edge 71 of the opening adjacent the center of the top wall 16.

The seal assembly 24 is constructed with a resilient sheet of sealing material 28 compressed between an upper flange 30 and a lower flange 32. The sealing material 28 can be constructed from suitable resilient material such as rubber, neoprene or plastics which are acceptable for use in contacting foods. The upper flange 30 is attached to the central member 22 and in the present embodiment is integrally molded therewith. As can be seen in FIG. 7, the upper flange 30 has a thickness 58 that combined with angular surfaces 59 and 61 will cause the sealing material 28 to have its maximum pressure on the interior of the top wall 16 at the edge 63 of the sealing material 28. The surfaces 59 and 61 are at such an angle with the surfaces 60 and 62 to allow the sealing material 28 to assume the proper position when the closure 10 is installed. As shown in FIG. 9, the upper and lower flanges 30 and 32 have surfaces 70 and 72 that are perpendicular to the centerline 81 of the seal assembly 24 and of sufficient length to prevent upper flange 30 from hanging at the edge 71 of opening 20 during the dispensing operation described, hereinafter. The upper flange 30 is also provided with two downwardly extending shafts 34 and 36 which extend through aligned openings in a sealing material 28 and the lower flange 32. These shafts 34 and 36 extend completely through the lower flange 32 and can have a head formed thereon by applying heat to the-ends of the shafts 34 and 36 to rigidly attach the upper and lower flanges 30 and 32 and the sealing material 28 together to form the sealing assembly 24. It is to be understood, of course, that other methods of attaching the seal assembly 24 together could be utilized without departing from the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the upper and lower flanges 30 and 32 have rounded edges 56 and 57 such that the sealing material 28 will not shear when pinched against the sides of the opening 20 during the insertion or removal of the seal assembly 24.

As can be seen particularly in FIGS. 1 and 3, the sealing material 28 is of a size and shape to completely cover the opening 20 and provide a sealed closure. It also can be seen that any pressure inside the receptacle will tend to cause the pressure between the seal and the side of the top wall 16 to be increased thus increasing the sealing efficiency as the pressure within the container increases. As can be seen in FIG. 8, the edge 69 of the opening 20 nearest the rim 68 is often distorted during the removal of the pop-tab". To improve the sealing efficiency along the edge 69, the rounded surface 64 of the lower flange 32 is elevated to pinch the scaling material 28 against the edge 69 when the closure member 10 is installed.

The spring and handle assembly 26 is constructed with two arcuate arms 42 which extend from the central member 22. In the present embodiment these arcuate arms 42 are integrally molded with the central member 22 but it is understood that other methods of construction could be used depending on the material and size of the container to be sealed. Between the ends of these two arcuate arms is attached an arcuate shaped handle 44, the operation of which will be hereinafter described. A first arcuate spring member 46 is also attached between the ends of the arcuate arms 42 so that the spring member 46 is in resilient contact with the upper surface of the top wall 16 of the receptacle 12. A second arcuate spring member 48 is attached between the ends of the arcuate arms 42, to resiliently contact the upper surface of the top wall 16 adjacent the opening 20 and the rim 68.

The first and second springs 46 and 48, respectively, are each designed so that if the seal is in place as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the spring members will exert a resilient force in a downward direction on the top wall 16 to urge the seal assembly 24 in an upward direction against the interior of the top wall 16. The first spring member 46 is positioned near edge 71 of the opening 20 and the second spring member 48 is positioned near the opposite edge 69 of the opening 20. The spring member 48 contacts the rim 68 to position the closure member 10 with respect to the opening 20. Thus, the closure member 10 is retained in position with the seal assembly 24 in sealing contact with the interior of the top wall 16. As shown in FIG. 8, the spring 48 has a protrusion 67 that rests in the groove 66 to help retain the closure member 10 in its operating position.

To install the closure member 10, first the lid is removed from the receptacle 12 leaving the opening 20. The seal assembly 24 is then inserted through the opening 20 as is shown in FIG. 5. It can be seen that during insertion of the seal assembly 24 through the opening 20 the closure member 10 is rotated approximately 90 from its eventual sealing position so that the elongated shape of the opening 20 will allow the sealing assembly 24 to be inserted into the interior of the receptacle 12. During the insertion, the spring 48 slides along the top wall 16. This is made possible by limiting the distance between surfaces 75 and 76 as shown in FIG. 5. Once the sealing assembly 24 is completely inserted into the receptacle as is sbown in FIG. 6 the closure 10 is rotated approximately 270 in a direction of arrow 50 until the closure 10 is in sealing position shown in FIGS. 1-4. During this rotation of the closure 10, the sealing material 28 is held away from interior of the top wall 16 by the deflector 72. As shown in FIG. 1, the rounded edge 77 of the deflector 72 is of such a diameter to force the seal assembly 24 to seek a central position in the opening 20 because the rounded edge 77 is restricted by the edges 78 and 79. Also during the installation rotation of the closure 10, the spring 46 is permittedto slide across the edges of opening 20 without interfering with the edges of opening 20 due to the fact that the surfaces 73 and 74 are elevated away from the spring contact point 80. By reversing the above procedure the closure 10 can be removed from the receptacle 12 by rotating the closure 10 back into the position shown in FIG. 6 and removing the sealing assembly 24 from the interior of the receptacle as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, it can be seen that the closure member 10 can be mounted on and demounted from the receptacle as desired.

If it is desired to dispense liquid from the receptacle 12 without demounting the closure member 10, it is only necessary to move the handle in a direction of arrow 52 as shown in FIG. 10. This movement of the handle 44 in the direction of arrow 52 in turn causes the sealing assembly 24 to rotate away from the opening 20 in the direction of arrow 54 and deflects the first and second spring members 46 and 48. If excess pressure has built up in the can 12 so as to impede the movement of the handle 44 in the direction of the arrow 52, the pressure may first be released by moving the central member 22 in the direction of the arrow 55 shown in FIG. 2. Once the closure is in the position shown in FIG. 10 the receptacle 12 can be tilted to dispense liquid through the opening 20. Once the desired amount of liquid is dispensed from the receptacle 12, pressure can be removed from the handle 44 and the seal assembly 24 will rotate back to the position shown in FIGS. I4 and provide an effective seal for the liquid contained therein.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that numerous modifications or alterations may be made therein by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A removable closure member for a container having at least one wall with an opening therein, comprismg:

a first portion extending into the interior of the container, seal means carried by said first portion releasably contacting the interior side of said wall around said opening to seal said opening;

second portion on the exterior of said container connected to said first portion, spring means on said second portion for urging said seal means in a direction to increase the seal pressure between said seal means and said wall;

said spring means comprises a first arcuate shaped spring element which resiliently contacts the exterior of said wall at one side of said opening and a second arcuate shaped spring element which resiliently contacts the exterior of said wall at the opposite side of said opening; and

handle means on said first portion which when moved in a first direction will cause said seal means to move away from said wall to allow dispensing from said container.

2. A removable closure member as defined in claim 1 wherein said second arcuate shaped spring positions said closure with respect to said opening. 

1. A removable closure member for a container having at least one wall with an opening therein, comprising: a first portion extending into the interior of the container, seal means carried by said first portion releasably contacting the interior side of said wall around said opening to seal said opening; second portion on the exterior of said container connected to said first portion, spring means on said second portion for urging said seal means in a direction to increase the seal pressure between said seal means and said wall; said spring means comprises a first arcuate shaped spring element which resiliently contacts the exterior of said wall at one side of said opening and a second arcuate shaped spring element which resiliently contacts the exterior of said wall at the opposite side of said opening; and handle means on said first portion which when moved in a first direction will cause said seal means to move away from said wall to allow dispensing from said container.
 2. A removable closure member as defined in claim 1 wherein said second arcuate shaped spring positions said closure with respect to said opening. 